The China Mail - Mammoth German rail project hits the buffers - again

"Stuttgart 21" is envisaged as a futuristic rail hub in the southwestern city, but its inauguration has been repeatedly pushed back from an original date of 2019.

Trains were due to finally start running from the new underground station in December 2026, before a full opening in the summer of 2027.

But Der Spiegel news outlet reported the recently installed head of state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn had indefinitely delayed it due to technical problems.

Deutsche Bahn acknowledged in a statement that "scheduling risks" had grown to "an extent that was previously unforeseeable".

It did not give further details but said the issue was being assessed by the group's supervisory board.

"I'm not surprised at all, because the problems are so huge," Dieter Reicherter, spokesman for protest group Action Alliance Against Stuttgart 21, told AFP.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the project were to be cancelled altogether at some point."

Tim Alexandrin, a transport ministry spokesman, emphasized the federal government had no direct influence over the project, which is overseen at the local level.

But he told reporters in Berlin that it was "clear that any further delays are extremely frustrating, particularly for passengers".

Work began 15 years ago on Stuttgart 21, which involves replacing the current station with a major underground site.

But repeated delays have left the city centre resembling a building site, while costs have more than doubled to around 11 billion euros ($12.7 billion).

Der Spiegel reported that analyses had shown there were major risks with sticking to the planned start date of 2026 due to problems with digital infrastructure.

Deutsche Bahn CEO Evelyn Palla, recently named to lead the rail operator, has not yet set a new opening date, and one is not expected until the middle of next year.

The project has come to symbolise the deterioration of German rail services in recent years, and more broadly the country's infrastructure, from crumbling bridges to patchy internet coverage.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition has launched a massive fund aimed at fixing these problems, with 81 billion euros earmarked for the rail system by 2029, according to Deutsche Bahn.

C.Fong--ThChM